Paul Mazurkiewicz's Drum Setup on Cannibal Corpse's Gallery of Suicide (1998) | MetalForge

Frequently Asked Questions

What kit did Paul Mazurkiewicz use on Gallery of Suicide?

On Gallery of Suicide (1998), Paul Mazurkiewicz played a Pearl kit in the Masters MX range — dual 22-inch x 16-inch kick drums, 10-inch and 12-inch rack toms, and a 16-inch floor tom, paired with a 14-inch x 5.5-inch wood-shell snare. The setup sits in the middle of his long transition from the pre-endorsement Pearl gear of the early 1990s toward the Pearl Reference kit and Meinl cymbal endorsement that define his modern rig — those relationships were still developing in 1998 rather than fully established. Cymbals were still primarily Paiste 2002 and Zildjian A series, the same general selection he had used since the early CC catalog.

Did Cannibal Corpse chart with Gallery of Suicide?

Gallery of Suicide (1998) peaked at #22 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart, a chart specifically tracking new and developing artists rather than the main Billboard 200. It did not chart on the Billboard 200 itself. Cannibal Corpse's first Billboard 200 entry came two years earlier with Vile (1996), which debuted at #151. Gallery of Suicide's Heatseekers placement nonetheless reflected the band's continued commercial growth in an era dominated by nu-metal on mainstream metal radio and MTV.

Who produced Gallery of Suicide and where was it recorded?

Gallery of Suicide was produced, engineered, mixed, and mastered by Jim Morris at Morrisound Recording in Tampa, Florida. It was the eighth and final Cannibal Corpse album recorded at Morrisound, a studio relationship that had begun with Eaten Back to Life in 1990. Scott Burns, who produced the band's first four albums, had stepped back from extreme metal production by the late 1990s; Morris, a Morrisound co-owner who had worked alongside Burns throughout the decade, took over and preserved the studio's established dry, attack-forward drum sound. The band would not record at Morrisound again after this album.

What changed in the Cannibal Corpse lineup on Gallery of Suicide?

Gallery of Suicide (1998) was the first Cannibal Corpse album to feature lead guitarist Pat O'Brien, formerly of Nevermore, who would go on to anchor the band's guitar work for more than two decades. It was also George 'Corpsegrinder' Fisher's second album as vocalist, following his 1996 debut on Vile. Paul Mazurkiewicz, bassist Alex Webster, and rhythm guitarist Jack Owen remained the lineup's constants from the earlier records.

What is 'From Skin to Liquid' and why is it significant?

'From Skin to Liquid' is Cannibal Corpse's first instrumental track and, at the time of its release, the slowest song the band had recorded. It appears on Gallery of Suicide (1998) and gave Paul Mazurkiewicz space to use dynamics and tom-based texture rather than sustained blast-beat density — a notable departure from the rest of the record and from the band's catalog up to that point. The track is frequently cited as one of the more experimental moments in Cannibal Corpse's discography.